When it comes to cooking the Christmas meal, at least half of us will turn to
a celebrity chef for guidance. Four chefs lead the pack: but which one
guarantees the tastiest results, and which are best avoided? Xanthe Clay
whips up four turkeys with all the trimmings to find out.

Xanthe Clay puts the Christmas recipes of four celebrity chefs to the test

By Xanthe Clay

7:00AM GMT 11 Dec 2008

It’s eight in the morning and I’ve just taken delivery of four turkeys. A bit early, you might think, both in the day and in the month, for Christmas food shopping. But there is some serious work to be done, roasting and basting, stirring and stuffing, peeling and boiling, for four Christmas dinners. It’s the turkey equivalent of Groundhog Day.

Why? A recent survey by Good Food magazine says 48 per cent of us want to experiment with their Christmas menu this year, and more than half will be turning to a celeb chef’s book. Jamie Oliver tops the list, but Delia Smith, Gordon Ramsay and Nigella Lawson aren’t far behind.

Choosing which one to entrust your meal to is a serious gamble, since this is the one meal we are unlikely to rehearse. A tricky dinner party dish might get a trial run, but a full Christmas dinner for 12? Unlikely . But this is one expensive meal, and difficult to pull off, with its multiple dishes all served together and that notoriously dull turkey. It’s also arguably the most important dinner of the year, the one people remember, the one where all the family is united round the table. And there’s another stress. Families, unlike friends, can be unforgiving, critical, and have long memories. This meal had better be good.

So, masochist that I am, I’m going to cook all the big four’s Christmas meals, to find out which tastes best, which is easiest, and which to avoid. Hence the turkeys, no ordinary turkeys, but the chefs’ favourite, Kelly Bronze turkeys. They aren’t cheap, coming in at over £70 (including delivery) for a 5kg bird, and their dark feather stubs mean they look in need of a good leg wax, but they have the proper delicious gamey flavour and fine texture. There’ll be no excuses for tasteless, dry meat.